The Regulation Of Power Exchanges In Europe

The liberalisation of the electricity sector has changed the way in which electricity is traded. De facto or legal vertical monopolies are gradually abandoned and new participants have entered the market. At the wholesale level, one of the important developments is the establishment of organised electricity markets, i.e. electricity power exchanges. This book analyses the role and evaluates the impact of these new organised markets, which until now received little attention. The introduction provides an overview of the developments on EC level as this creates the legal environment within which power exchanges operate. The implementation of the EC Electricity Directive has inter alia resulted in a commodization of electricity trading. Thereupon the development of power pools and electricity exchanges is discussed as well as the products which can be traded. Subsequently, the development of the most important national and/or regional exchanges in Europe will be examined. National experts will analyse the role of power exchanges in the Nordic countries, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Austria, Spain and Italy. The authors analyse the most important developments in their jurisdictions according to a fixed outline (e.g. implementation of the EC Electricity Directive, market structure, emergence and functioning of the organised market, products traded and the impact of cross-border trade) which allows for a comparative analysis and facilitates understanding. Finally, some conclusions with regard to the establishment of a single electricity market will be presented as well as some future developments.

The electricity sector worldwide is undergoing a fundamental transformation of its institutional structure as a consequence of the complex interactions of political, economic and technological forces. The way the industry is organized is changing from vertically integrated monopolies to unbundled structures that favor market mechanisms. This process in Europe, known as the liberalization process, has had a wide impact on the European electricity industry. The focus of this dissertation is an analysis of the role of electricity power exchanges in the recently liberalized electricity markets of Europe. In the context of creating "a" competitive electricity market at a European level, the key questions considered are the functioning of these power exchanges with respect to electricity characteristics, market design and regulatory framework.

The electricity sector worldwide is undergoing a fundamental transformation of its institutional structure as a consequence of the complex interactions of political, economic and technological forces. The way the industry is organized is changing from vertically integrated monopolies to unbundled structures that favor market mechanisms. This process in Europe, known as the liberalization process, has had a wide impact on the European electricity industry. The focus of this book is an analysis of the role of electricity power exchanges in the recently liberalized electricity markets of Europe. In the context of creating "a" competitive electricity market at a European level, the key questions considered are the functioning of these power exchanges with respect to electricity characteristics, market design and regulatory framework.

Bridging theory and practice, this book offers insights into how Europe has experienced the evolution of modern electricity markets from the end of the 1990s to the present day. It explores defining moments in the process, including the four waves of European legislative packages, landmark court cases, and the impact of climate strikes and marches.

Liberalisation in the power sector is high on the agenda of policy makers, regulators and the industry around the world. There is growing recognition of the benefits of power marker liberalisation and the need to further integrate regional markets in a liberal trade and investment environment. This volume brings together articles written by leading experts in the field of electricity trade and regulation in Europe. Organised in two parts, the contributions cover a range of issues from market structure, trade flows, infrastructure and investment to the regulatory framework within which the industry operates, including international trade rules and national technical, environmental and regulatory regimes. These are complex and sensitive issues requiring an in-depth understanding of the economics and regulation of the electricity trade and the primary object of this volume is to contribute to an informed debate on the subject. To this end, the contributors demonstrate how a competition ?friendly and liberal environment for electricity trade, including a system of non-discriminatory and transparent access to transmission and distribution networks, could contribute to improving market integration, economic efficiency , supply security and environmental health.

The UK model of incentive regulation of power grids was at one time the most advanced, and elements of it were adopted throughout the EU. This model worked well, particularly in the context of limited investment and innovation, a single and strong regulatory authority, and limited coordination between foreign grid operators. This enlightening book shows that since 2010 the whole context has changed and regulation has had to catch-up and evolve. The EU is entering a wave of investment, and an era of new services and innovation which has created growing tensions between national regulatory authorities in terms of coordinating technical standards and distribution systems. This is being played out against an increasingly disruptive backdrop of digitzation, new market platforms and novel business models.

Master's Thesis from the year 2010 in the subject Business economics - Economic Policy, grade: 1, Oxford Brookes University, language: English, abstract: The main understanding of this work will suggest that the electricity market liberalisation need a new impulse from the biggest market players and from the regulators. The liberalisation process is defaulting; the practice and implementation should more precedes as the electricity market in the EU. The base; the Directives are settled by the Commission. The implementation by the big four companies on the market is be a long time coming. There is a wide range of different national experiences of liberalisation electricity markets in terms of the degree of the concentration of generation, the stringency of unbundling public ownership and regulatory institutions. The thesis is combining the "Third Party Access" and the "Single Buyer Model" with its empirical evidence and their implementation for Germany. However, the results of this report will reach a number of significant conclusions at the end of the thesis and will make several policy recommendations. (Blaxter,2006). It draws a distinction between observations that are relevant to the design a well functioned electricity markets. The German electricity sector has undergone considerable changes throughout the past few years (RWE, 2007). Main developments were related to liberalisation of electricity markets (generation and sell of power) and transport of electricity (grid operations), the evolving European CO2 emissions trading scheme and the promotion of renewable electricity generation.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the application of the EU Market Abuse Directive to energy markets. The main provisions of the Market Abuse Directive are the prohibition of insider trading and market manipulation. Due to the close link between market abuse regulation and the need for transparency, this book also covers regulations concerning the disclosure of information. Following the liberalisation of the European energy markets, energy trading has become a significant growth industry. Trading in electricity and gas takes place both bilaterally and through organised marketplaces. In addition to trading in electricity and gas for physical delivery, financial trading - in commodity derivatives contracts related to the underlying commodities -- has become increasingly important. This financial trading allows participants in the physical markets to hedge physical positions. The financial markets are therefore closely linked to the physical markets. In addition, financial energy markets provide opportunities for speculation, which highlights the similarities between these markets and other financial markets. The market abuse regulation applies to trading in financial instruments admitted to trading on so-called regulated markets. Regulated markets for electricity and gas contracts have been established in several European countries and are becoming increasingly important. The market abuse regulation constitutes part of the regulation of financial markets. However, the information of relevance to financial energy markets is generally connected to conditions in the underlying physical markets, and is therefore regulated by the authorities responsible for overseeing the physical markets. Thus, the subjects covered in this book can be seen as a separate field of law -- energy market law -- which combines the traditional disciplines of energy law and stock exchange/securities law. Both the markets and the regulations are experiencing rapid developments. In addition to analysing the provisions already in force, this book also provides a normative contribution to the development of this discipline of law.

A key message of this report is that full and effective implementation of proposed legislation will be necessary to ensure a true internal market for energy in the EU, but this alone will not be sufficient. In parallel, more attention must be paid to other, less-prominent fields. The report singles out i) the introduction of incentive-based network regulation and ii) the careful design of principal elements of the wholesale market, i.e. trade of electricity and gas for resale ("wholesale market design and rules"). Moreover, the internal market needs to be buttressed with the consistent application of competition rules across member states to avoid the creation of national champions. The report also argues that a functioning electricity and gas market depends on market-compatible solutions to security of supply and environmental issues and a rethinking of "executive agencies", whose use to date is inhibited by the Meroni doctrine.